Through living in Tokyo for several years, I became fascinated by the women and what was behind their shy smile. On the outside it appeared that Japanese women were submissive and docile but on the inside I learned that they had more strength and yielded more power than I had previously thought. These paintings are of a particular woman whom I felt I knew best. That said, I do not feel that I came close to understanding what made her tick or how she truly felt about things. I painted laughter to get inside the head of Japanese women in general, but feel that I only but scuffed the surface.
